Article attaching means



ART I CLE ATTACHING MEANS I Filed March 5, 1965 i2 IO lo l2 '5 INVENTOR.

lRViNG L. TISH United States Patent O 3,295,810 ARTICLE A'ITACHING MEANSIrving L. Kintish, Rockaway, NJ., assigner to the United States ofAmerica as represented by the Secretary of the Army Filed Mar. 3, 1965,Ser. No. 436,970 2 Claims. (Cl. 248-206) The invention described hereinmay be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmentalpurposes without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to a method and means for fastening a relativelysmall article to another object or surface, and particularly to a methodand means for fastening which includes a tape having a suction cupfastening side.

Formerly, small articles were fastened to other objects or supportingsurfaces by means of adhesive tapes, ropes, waxy resins and the like.These means proved inadequate in many applications. For example, wheninstalling a small explosive charge to an underwater supporting surfacethe above mentioned expressed means could not conveniently perform thedesired fastening function. Commonly known adhesive tapes would not holdunderwater; ropes were too cumbersome and limited in application andwaxy resins were too bulky. The latter two objections apply also tofastening articles together or to a supporting surface in theatmosphere.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide amethod and means for fastening small articles to another object orsurface, which method and means provide superior fastening under allordinary environmental conditions.

A further object of this invention is to provide a fastening tapeconsisting of a resilient iiexible and impervious material having aplurality of integrally formed suction cup-like indentations formed onone side of the tape, the suction cups being of suiicient size andnumber, and in spaced relationship to each other to provide a superiorsuction fastening surface.

These objects and other advantages will become apthe drawings in which:

FIGS. l and 2 are enlarged diagrammatic planar views of portions oftapes-of this invention;

FIG. 3 is a View taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a view of FIG. 3 showing a backing on the inventive tape,which backing is readily removable from the tape and allows theinventive tape to be formed int-o a roll for convenient transportation;

FIG. 5 shows a typical application of the invention.

In accordance with this invention and refer-ring to the drawings Wherelike reference numerals relate to like parts throughout, represents thetape composed of a resilient flexible material which is impervious toair or water typical of such a material is vinyl, silicone rubber, orother elastomers. The width and thickness of the tape 10 may vary asdesired. However, the thickness must be greater than the diameter of thesuction cup indentations 12 which are integral with the tape. Thesuction cup indentations 12 are preferably distributed substantiallyuniformly throughout the tape so that they are uniformly spaced fromeach other. As shown in FIG. 1 the indentations are arranged in astaggered pattern and in FIG. 2

in a substantially straight pattern. The suction cup indentations 12have the characteristic of producing a partial vacuum when applied to asurface.

The spacing of the suction cup indentations 12 is very 5 important sinceunder compression there is a spreading of the cup. For example, if thesuction cup indentations 12 are 1A inch in diameter the distancesbetween indentations should be no less than 1A inch. The thickness ofthe tape 10, in this example, should be i716 inch or more to 10 insuredurability of the tape. Like considerations must be taken into accountwhen the indentations are increased or decreased in dimensions.

As shown in FIG. 4 a thin backing 14 can be placed over the face of thetape and coextensive therewith. The 15 use of this backing 14 willpermit the tape 10 to be rolled into a coil facilitating transportation,and would also act to preclude foreign matter from entering into theindentation area. The backing 14 could consist of a thin plastic ortightly woven cloth attached to the face of the tape with a small amountof suitable adhesive. The backing should be capable of being easilyremoved from the face of the tape.

The method of using this inventive tape with a small article forfastening same to another object or supporting surface is illustrated inFIG. 5. FIG. 5 shows a small article 16 fastened to a piece of wood 18in a water environment. Typical of this illustration, the small article16 could be a mass of explosive material while the wood 18 could be asupport column of a pier to be destroyed. A diver would sever a suitablelength of tape 10 from a roll thereof, place the explosive against thesupport column and press the mid-portion of the length of tape over arelatively liat portion of the explosive. This will thus fix the tape tothe explosive by creation of a vacuum between the indentations 12 andthe body of the explosive article 16. The end portion of the tape 10will then be pressed against the surface of the support column fixingthe tape t-o the column by a vacuum between the indentations and thesurface of the column. The explosive article 16 is now fastened to thecolumn and ready to be appropriately used. This method as can be readilyunderstood, is very simple and can be quickly applied. This inventivetape is not limited to use in water -but can be used as illustratedabove in any ordinary environment i.e. water,

air, gas, etc.

I claim:

1. In an underwater demolition arrangement having an explosive chargesecured to a support member submerged in water,

a waterproof, resilient tape having a central portion secured to saidcharge and its end portions secured to said member, said tape having oneside substantially covered with an adhering surface, said surface havingsubstantially throughout its length a plurality of spaced cup-likerecesses defining vacuum containing indentations in said surface securedagainst said charge and said member.

2. `In an underwater demolition arrangement having an explosive chargesecured to a support member submerged in water,

a waterproof, resilient tape having a central portion secured to saidcharge and its end portions secured to said member, said tape having oneside substantially covered with an adhesive material surface, saidadhesive surface having substantially throughout its length a pluralityof spaced cup-like recesses defining vacuum containing indentations insaid adhesive surface secured against said charge and said member.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2/1936 Carpenter24-67 1/1941 Groff 248-206 CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner.

I. F. FOSS, Assistant Examiner.

1. IN AN UNDERWATER DEMOLITION ARRANGEMENT HAVING AN EXPLOSIVE CHARGESECURED TO A SUPPORT MEMBER SUBMERGED IN WATER, A WATERPROOF, RESILIENTTAPE HAVING A CENTRAL PORTION SECURED TO SAID CHARGE AND ITS ENDPORTIONS SECURED TO SAID MEMBER, SAID TAPE HAVING ONE SIDE SUBSTANTIALLYCOVERED WITH AN ADHERING SURFACE, SAID SURFACE HAVING SUBSTANTIALLYTHROUGHOUT ITS LENGTH A PLURALITY OF SPACED CUP-LIKE RECESSES DEFININGVACUUM CONTAINING INDENTATIONS IN SAID SURFACE SECURED AGAINST SAIDCHARGE AND SAID MEMBER.